MauroP

Ben, Masakata Bushū-Itō school, not Chōshū. The other tsuba could be Edo Higo or Kumagai school. Bye, Mauro

Maybe a rudder (舵透図 - kaji sukashi no zu)? Mauro

There are some errors scattered in the text (at least I think so): p. 14 - tsuba Shingen, but nothing to do with the design known as the “centipede”; p. 20 - the image is mirrored left-right (difficult to read properly the signature); p. 21 - worth to say the complete mei should be Shōami Shigenobu; p. 25 - the complete mei should be Joi Nagaharu (with Nagaharu - 永春 in form of seal); p. 29 - 柳川直春 reads Yanagawa Naoharu, not Naohara; p. 41 - the maker is Kaji´emon, not Kakiemon; p. 42 - the mei in omote should be 干英子野村包教 - Kan'eishi Nomura Kanenori, not Kan-ishi Nomura Kanemobu; p. 43 - Natsuo, as pointed out by Ford; p. 45 - the mei should be Masachika (正親), not Malachi. It would be fine if some advanced fellows here in the forum could confirm and send a note to the Bilbao Fine Arts Museum. Mauro

The expressions gomoku-zōgan (五目象嵌), fukiyose-zōgan (吹寄象嵌) or hokori-yoshirō (埃与四郎) can be interchangeably used to define this style of inlay. I've found only 3 tsuba with NBTHK paper, two attributed to Heianjō and one to Yoshirō. Anyway all the papers report just shinchū-zōgan. Here below 3 tsuba in my collection: The no. 1 is a plan maru-gata kaku-mimi tsuba with a shiny ground plate (silver plated?) and symmetrical hitsu-ana. The no. 2 has quite classical ko-sukashi of Shōami school. The no. 3 is a big nikubori ji-sukashi tsuba. The tsuba above have nothing in commom but the same kind of inlay, and in my opinion this support the hypotesis that gomoku-zōgan was just a way to "pimp" old tsuba. Bye, Mauro

The theme is usually referred as ōka ryūsui - 桜花流水 Bye, Mauro

Hi Aldwin, here below a tsuba with similar decoration papered Shōami (when you don't know, say elephant or Shōami...): Helen Gunsalus in her "Japanese Sword-Mounts in the Collections of Field Museum" (1923) take this kind of decoration as an early type (see https://archive.org/stream/japaneseswordmou16guns#page/28/mode/2up) I don't like the Shōami-take-them-all theory but I what I know? Bye, Mauro

Beginner's luck, I suppose

My try, from left to right: Akasaka second generation Tadamasa Akasaka fourth generation Tadamune Hayashi third generation Tohachi (or Tosa Myōchin?) Hayashi second generation Shigemitsu Bye, Mauro

Satsuma school is really a good suggestion. See here a similar tsuba papered den Satsuma: http://world.seiyudo.com/product/tu-010416/ BTW, the kind of peapods are the so called sword bean (natamame - 鉈豆). Bye, Mauro

A phenix in plain kin-nunome-zōgan. Possibly Kyō-kenjō, late Edo. Just my not-so-educated opinion. Bye, Mauro

Most probably Aizu-Shōami, mid-late Edo. Nice tsuba. bye, Mauro

Hi Grev, I've collected images (not real tsuba, unfortunately) of 925 NBTHK papered tsuba. Among them I can see: 9 ko-tōshō, 7 ko-katchūshi, 23 ko-kinkō, 12 ko-Shōami. 4 ko-Akasaka. Never seen papers reporting ko-Goto, ko-Mino, ko-Myōchin, ko-Umetada and ko-Nara. My records can be biased in some way, but can give a rough estimate of the relative frequencies (at least of what deserve certification according to the NBTHK panels). BTW, ko-sukashi has a complete different meaning (and is written 小透, not 古透). Bye, Mauro

Actually the paper say "mei (kin"in)", so the piece is signed, but the paper does not tell who is the maker. Bye, Mauro

I've just learned the sad news. I've never met Thierry in person but I bought some tsuba from him, and I could appreciate his extreme kindness. My condolences to family and close friends. He will be missed for a long time. Mauro

Green Dragon, here a togishi I wish to recommend you...

Johnny, I'm quite doubtful about your measures of tsuba thickness. If diameter is reported correctly the thickness (estimated from pics) should be just 5 mm or so. Mauro

The very same tsuba is also reported as Kanayama in "Early Japanese Sword Guards: Sukashi Tsuba" by Sasano al p.118. I think we need better photos of your tsuba to give an educated opinion on true Kanayama vs. cast copy. bye, Mauro

Hi Bojan, my best guess about your tsuba: #1 Kinai (記内), daikon no zu tsuba - 大根図鐔 #2 Owari (尾張) or Kyō-sukashi (京透), itomaki sukashi tsuba - 糸巻透鐔 #3 if not cast it could have been an Akasaka tsuba #4 Nanban (南蛮), unryū no zu tsuba - 雲龍図鐔 #5 Heianjō (平安城) #6 more Hizen (肥前) than simply Namban, ryū ni shachihoko karakusa sukashi tsuba - 龍に鯱唐草透鐔 Bye, Mauro

Hi Matt, your tsuba #1 is not so bad, after all. It possibly "fits the box" Aizu-Shōami (会津正阿弥) or just Shōami. Good luck for the next buy! Mauro

Hi Grev, try researching Nagasaki or Nagasaki shippō (長崎七宝). Mauro

Hi Ron, the boxed kanji say 銀地 - gin-ji - silver material Mauro

May I suggest a different transcription of mei from Ludolf tsuba? Possibly 山城住家貞 - Yamashiro jū Iesada. The tsuba posted by Christian could be produced in another province: 勢州住正家 - Seishū jū Masaie. Bye, Mauro

In Italian the right definition is "margini del traforo", so margin, edge or border may be the right word? Mauro

The tsuba could be a Tenpō school. The filling of sukashi spaces is usually referred as gan-kin (嵌金). Bye, Mauro

The style of Chris tsuba seems more akin to the Higo style.